South Africa on Thursday won the toss and opted to field in the first T20 International being played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Pakistan, led by Babar Azam, will bat first.

Interestingly, South Africa have never lost a T20I series against Pakistan, but then they've never played a T20I series in Pakistan either. 

Heinrich Klaasen captaining South Africa for the first time and several players looking to make an impression in place of absent stars. 

No fans are allowed in for this game. 

South Africa’s David Miller aims to use his position as the senior-most member of South Africa's T20I squad to have an influence on and off the field in today’s match. In a recent interview Miller said, “We all need to perform as players but it helps when senior players perform.”

The three-match T20 series is being played after much-needed series win for Pakistan in the recently concluded Test series which the hosts white-washed 2-0.

The five-week-long PSL T20 series is also going to start later this month amid limited crowds for the first time since the Covid-19 hit the globe and the country.  

The other two T20Is will be played on February 13 and February 14 at Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore. It’s Match Day and the captains are ready to fight for the T20 series trophy.

https://twitter.com/OfficialCSA/status/1359490259449487367

Teams:

Pakistan: Babar Azam, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Hussain Talat, Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Zafar Gohar, Faheem Ashraf, Aamer Yamin, Amad Butt, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir, Zahid Mehmood. 

South Africa: Heinrich Klaasen, Nandre Burger, Okuhle Cele, Bjorn Fortuin, George Linde, David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi, JJ Smuts, Glenton Stuurman, Nandre Burger, Junior Dala, Reeza Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lutho Sipamla, Jacques SnymanPite van Biljon.